The Last 7 SAYING FROM THE CROSS! OUR LORDS LAST WORDS AND ITS POWER!
(1 Cor 1:18)” For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are saved, it is the power of God!”
Hanging on the cross – Calvary’s Hill – Jesus made seven powerful statements, which revealed His heart and ministry for us.
Each statement carries the weight of the Gospel in itself but together they provide the portrait of God’s eternal plan of salvation through Jesus Christ.
Jesus laid His life on the cross for us! To save us! Because He loves us!
…”For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again. “No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.”[John 10:17-18]
No one can take the life from Jesus! But He was willing to lay His life for mankind!
He had a choice to reject the mission! But He loves the Father and submitted to His will!
The faithful servant who choose to stay back, because he loved the master and His family!
“the servant declares, ‘I love my master and my wife and children and do not want to go free,[ Exodus 21:5]
The 7 seven statement from the cross which will further increase our faith on Him knowing the ultimate price of death and the unconditional love of God and the sacrifice of the loving savior who choose to stay back for us to pay the price and ensure our eternal salvation! I recommend you all to meditation on these seven powerful statements, which will surely transform your life!
1. Jesus Speaks to the Father
“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” ( Luke 23:34).
…”the manslayer who kills any person unintentionally, without premeditation, may flee there (The cities of refuge) and they shall become your refuge from the avenger of blood….[Joshua 20:3 ]
This is the Jewish law pertaining to the man slayer who kills someone without intention. Though they knew [All] they were killing Jesus intentionally – on the cross – the true loving savior has put all our guilt to one closure, saying ………….
Father forgive them, they don’t know what they are doing! One statement made a clear path for all the slayers of Jesus – their city of refuge!
After all He was punished on our behalf –He became sin so that we become the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus!
2) Jesus Speaks to the criminal on the Cross
“I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:39-43).
The two criminals who were on the left and right side of Jesus represent the mankind (type).
1. Who received Jesus and was saved and will reach Heaven
2. Who rejected the savior and ended up in Hell.
One criminal at the time of his death, fully aware of his penalty, identified Jesus as his Savior who can help him and – cried to Him, “Lord remember me in your kingdom”.[Luke 23:39-42]
The loving Savior answered Him ensuring a royal promise of entering in His kingdom…
“Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”[Luke 23:43]…Such an Amazing love!
It’s a category of the people in the world who seek (escaping) Jesus as their Savior just by believing Him as a savior and His power to save you!
The other criminal on the cross saw Jesus as a helpless ordinary human and mocked Him. He perished without knowing that the one He was rejecting is really the Christ who can save him too!
“Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed him, saying, “If you are the Christ, save yourself and us”.
Saving the sinner was the mission of Jesus! He does it even in the last moment! He saved a criminal – a thief!
Truly Jesus Christ is the “friend of Tax collectors and sinners” [Mat 11:19]
Please identify yourself in which category you fall in?
3) Jesus Speaks to Mary and John
“He said to his mother, ‘Dear woman, here is your son,’ and to the disciple, ‘Here is your mother'” (John 19:26-27).
Jesus’ first two statements clearly reveal His divinity — His power to forgive sin and to grant eternal salvation. His third statement reflects His humanity. As a human, Jesus’ concern for Mary was not just as a Savior, but as the first born son. His compassion for His earthly mother reminds us that Jesus cares for our well-being and direction in life, even when we don’t understand God’s plans. And as Jesus asked John to care for Mary, He asks us to care for others on His behalf.
Note: – Jesus never addressed Mary as mother, in the scripture! Always He uses the phrase dear women!
4) Jesus Cries Out to the Father
“My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” ( Matthew 27:45-50).
This was the only incident where He addressed His Father as “GOD”!
Why?
Because on the cross He was separated from God! God’s Holy eyes cannot behold sins! Jesus was rejected on the cross for bearing our sins!
So that you and I can cry to God …..”Father, Father, why have you loved me so much, blessed me this much?”
Jesus and usGlory to God! It was a prison exchange – Between us and Jesus!
The fourth saying of Jesus from the cross is probably the most difficult for us to understand. The sinless Son of God, who had been, from eternity, in an intimate relationship with His Father, is now, spiritually, separated from Him. When the sins of the world were put on Jesus, there was,
for the first time, a separation between the Father and the Son. The Bible records something happened between them that can only be understood through the eye of faith. The Father was placing the sins of the world upon the Son so that everything in the universe that was affected by sin could again be made right with God. Jesus was suffering the pain and separation that we deserved: In order for this to happen, the Father had to forsake the Son and punish Him on our behalf.
“That is, God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself (2 Corinthians 5:19).”
“For he made him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in him (2 Corinthians 5:21).”
5) Jesus is Thirsty
“I thirst” (John 19:28-29)
- Jesus was thirsty physically and spiritually! After enduring unthinkable stress, trials, floggings and crucifixion, the Son of God —
- who made the waters of the world — experienced thirst.
- “They gave me vinegar for my thirst” (Psalm 69:21)
- Spiritually, Jesus was thirsting for the presence and fellowship of God the Father during their separation on the Cross!
“As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, the living God. When can I go and meet with God?”(Psalm 42)
- Also Jesus was redeeming us of the generational curse – as per the law ……………the punishment for your forefather’s sins!!
“The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge”. (Jer 31:29)
Remember, Jesus drank the sour vine on the cross, to redeem us from the generational curses!
John 19:30 “Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine” …
Jesus received the generational curse on Himself in order to fulfill prophecy.
You will not say again, ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.’… [Jer 31:29]
“After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, ‘I thirst’ (John 19:28).
Remember always that we are not under any curse! Honor what Jesus has done for us! Receive it in faith!
6. Grace! You are justified! Paid in Full!
“It is finished” (John 19:28-30) [The smallest but the top most important and powerful statement in the Bible!]
How many times in the Gospel of John does Jesus talk about His hour? He would say, “My hour has not yet come “or” the hour is coming.” It was as if Jesus was hearing the chimes of a clock that nobody could. The life of Lord Jesus Christ — the sum total of His ministry and mission — was leading to this one, final cry, “Tetelestai” or “It is finished.” From His birth, through His boyhood, manhood, and public ministry, Jesus’ mission was to finish the work His Father had given to Him — the work of redemption.
From the very beginning, Jesus’ death and resurrection were God’s plan for our redemption. Today we can experience the finished work, on the cross. Right now saying, “It is finished. Lord God, I come to you. I surrender my life to you. I know that you have conquered sin and death
and I accept your gift of eternal life. “For believers, Christ’s final cry should be a constant encouragement that we do not need to spin our wheels or worry about the future because His finished work secures our glorious and eternal destiny as a child of God.”
7: All our blessings are secured!
“Father, into your hands I commit my spirit” (Luke 23:44-49)
Jesus consumed all the fiery judgment of God on his body and still remained to say and call God as Father …because the mission was accomplished!
For the sacrifice of Elijah (Carmel mount), the fire of God fell on the sacrifice and consumed everything…the offering, water and the altar. Nothing could withstand the fiery judgment of God!!
(1 Kings 18:28) “ Then the fire of the LORD fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench”
But here in mount Calvary …Jesus consumed it all and was still alive to proclaim “IT IS FINISHED”.
He again addresses His father …as FATHER…for us to know, the judgment is finished!!
He committed His sprit saying “Father into thy hands I commit my Spirit!”
This was the cry of victory – of conquering death – of the One who is in control of His circumstances.
As a commander who would dismisses his servant, Jesus dismissed His own spirit and went to be with God the Father (Psalm 31:5).
When the centurion at the cross witnessed Jesus’ victorious cry, the officer recognized the difference between Jesus and every other dying man (on the cross).
It was at this moment that he said, “Surely this was a righteous man.”
Summary!
The “7” statements of Jesus, on the cross, have far-reaching significance for us today. They again remind us that His death, besides being a fact of history, was much more than that.
It was the supreme sacrifice that secured us salvation. His final word shows us that we can have the utmost confidence in Him as our Savior.
“May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ?” – (Gal 6:14)
All glory to Jesus my loving Savior.
